PERILS OF THE NEW LAND: FILMS OF THE IMMIGRATION EXPERIENCE (1910-1915) (DVD)

THE ITALIAN, produced for Paramount Pictures by Thomas H. Ince and directed by Reginald Barker, stars George Beban, who was renowned for his ethnic characterizations. It is the story of Beppo, a gondolier who comes to America and settles in lower Manhattan, where he operates a shoeshine business and eventually saves enough money to import his fiancée. Crime and poverty soon impact their lives – and there is no artificial, happy ending. Conflated from three sources, this tinted edition is mostly copied from an original nitrate print, and has an optional scene-specific audio essay by Prof. Giorgio Bertellini. A compiled score of authentic photoplay music is performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra led by Rodney Sauer, who also provides the music for the three Edison shorts.

According to legend, TRAFFIC IN SOULS was produced surreptitiously at Universal Pictures Corp. with the producer (Jack Cohn) and director (George Loane Tucker) prepared to buy the picture in case the company wouldn’t release it. Exploiting a recent exposé of prostitution rings, this “white slavery” story proved a huge financial success. Traffic In Souls is a very accomplished work for its time, and makes excellent use of New York City locations. This edition is copied from the only known original nitrate print of the domestic release; there is an excellent piano score by Philip Carli and an illuminating optional scene-specific audio essay by Professor Shelley Stamp, author of Movie-Struck Girls: Women and Motion Picture Culture After the Nickelodeon (Princeton Univ. Press).